Label:
Release Date:
01/01/2004

It gives me great pleasure to say that over the past 12 months the quality of demos I've received from many aspiring young artists has been of a ridiculously high standard, and this offering from London four-piece Husky is no exception.

On the press release, frontman Tarek Al-shammaa claims his band "live, breathe and bleed London", but after listening to the four songs on this CD, I'd also add the illustrious settings of Dublin, Manchester and (perhaps less salubrious) Kirkcaldy to that list.

The opening chimes of 'To Get Back' could almost be the sound of The Edge learning John Squire's euphoric interludes on 'The Second Coming', but as the song builds and builds into a skyscraping anthem not too dissimilar to *U2*'s 'With Or Without You', it becomes blatantly obvious that Husky's ambitions are set one stellar level above the ground.

The slightly more uptempo 'She Loses Her Head' has an almost Big Country feel about it (minus the squealing bagpipes, thank goodness), in that each verse feels like a chorus in itself, so by the time the chorus arrives you're pulling your hair out over which line to bellow out next, while the panoramic 'She Burns' twists and turns in a similar vein to the Doves at their most brutal.

After spending so long in the doldrums thanks to the overbearing sentimentality attached to Live Aid back in the 80s, its good to see stadium rock is alive and kicking and along with The Boxer Rebellion, Husky have an audacious nature that should see them rise from the toilet (circuit) quicker than you can say Citrus Fresh Domestos.